Baton Rouge is well-known for its love of football, baseball and even basketball, but now a new sport is on the rise here in Louisiana.

With the arrival of the Baton Rouge Zydeco, many residents of the capital city have a newfound love for hockey.

With the Zydeco out of town for a little while, Baton Rouge needs somewhere else to direct their hockey fandom, and these LSU students have the solution.

The LSU Club Hockey team is back on the ice for the first time since 2018, but it hasn’t quite been smooth skating. Without an ice rink they can afford, the Tigers have to play their home games in Lafayette, just over an hour away from campus.

“We drive ourselves, and we pay for the gas,” left wing Ethan Webb said.

That includes away games and practices at 9 p.m. on Wednesday nights, also in Lafayette. This can take a toll on the players.

“It sucks. Like I had an exam Thursday, but I got back home from practice at 2 a.m.,” Webb said.

Even the team’s gear and ice time are funded almost entirely by player dues.

Despite these challenges, this team is committed to getting LSU Hockey back on the map. Part of the inspiration for getting the club going again was the old days of LSU Hockey.

“I grew up in Baton Rouge watching those guys play,” Webb said. “Hockey’s not big here, so being able to full-circle, it’s nice to see it.”

The other part of getting the club back was that tiger competitiveness that many are all-too familiar with.

“All the other SEC schools had a team, so we thought we might as well get back into that status with everybody else,” center Jacob Panzer said.

Along with the success of the Zydeco, the players are proud to be a part of something bigger than just LSU Hockey. Panzer says it’s cool to see the growth of a sport that isn’t the most popular in the South.

The Tigers have certainly noticed the increased hockey fandom. Panzer wants fans to be patient, because they’ll have jerseys available for the public as soon as possible.

The new LSU Hockey team will wrap up their season on March 22 and 23 against UAB in Pelham, Alabama. Fans can catch these games on the LSU Hockey YouTube channel. Also, keep an eye out for team fundraisers in the future.